5 ms·

Things that are supported by a durable majority of the population. I wish that included public broadcasting, but it doesn't. Personally, I'm tired of hearing c

Things that are supported by a durable majority of the population. I wish that included public broadcasting, but it doesn't. Personally, I'm tired of hearing conservatives whine about public broadcasting. This will at least shut them up for good.

toomanyrichies 1y ago
> This will at least shut them up for good. No it won't. The modern GOP is fueled by grievance. It needs an "other" in order to exist. They'll have a new enemy to rail against by this time tomorrow.
- munchler 1y ago
  Yes, of course, but it won’t be public broadcasting anymore. That’s why this might be a win for public broadcasting in the long run.
  - anigbrowl 1y ago
    This is naive. If conservatives continue to perceive outlets like PBS as a thorn in their political sides, they'll go after their broadcasting licenses or target them with ruinous lawsuits - both actions that have been discussed or taken by conservative politicians already.
bix6 1y ago
I guess we should just support the post office with donations while we’re at it. That’ll work well!
- munchler 1y ago
  I suspect the post office is still supported by a durable majority. If it isn’t, then it will probably lose government funding as well.
  - saagarjha 1y ago
    A durable majority doesn't even support funding education, and it is losing federal funding as we speak. Do you think this is a good thing?
    - ptero 1y ago
      I don't think this is correct. The majority of people prefers states to have more influence on school curriculum and federal government to have less. Yes, there are downsides to that, but it generally means that hours on STEM will increase and hours on ideology will decrease. Removing federal influence in setting agenda while sending federal funding directly to states without federal oversight of programs would not be a bad thing. My 2c.
      - bix6 1y ago
        Banning books and forcing bibles in schools. Right.
        ptero 1y ago
        No, teaching what the local parents believe is best for their own kids. While there are certainly a few of those who will want bibles, most in my experience put much higher value in the extra STEM unhindered by ideology. My kids high school recently cancelled advanced math classes because the racial composition of students there was not what the school hoped to see. No, thank you, I want parents to have a much bigger influence on what schools teach.
        Eisenstein 1y ago
        Which Federal policy was it that led to that class cancelation?
        ptero 1y ago
        Some equal access policy that it was worried about. Do you have kids? If so, what age(s)?
- autoexec 1y ago
  Same with public schools, public parks, public sidewalks, public libraries, even police and fire departments. We have to give billionaires trillions in tax cuts while watching most Americans backslide into poverty so obviously it'd be fiscally irresponsible for the government to fund public services for the peasant class
const_cast 1y ago
You can't shut conservatives up. When you give conservatives what they want, they don't become less extreme - they double down and become more extreme. What you're referring to is a kind of "respectability politics". Basically, if we're nice and do what conservatives say, then things get better and they ease off. We have literal hundreds of years of proof that this is not the case, and the opposite happens. Think about Donald Trump. When we legitimize him and continue to do so, has he gotten less extreme, or more? In 2016 versus now, is he less extreme, or more? Much, much more. But he got what he wanted, right? Yes. And then he wants more, because he feels emboldened. It's an ideology built on Greed. If you give conservatives an inch, they take a mile. If you ease up a bit on reconstruction, then suddenly you have Jim Crow. If you you give them a teensy little bit of morality legislation, then suddenly you have mass censorship proposals and the Ten Commandments in schools. As a gay man, I see this time and time again in my own community. I have been told we are too vulgar, too sexual, too gross, and this is why conservatives target us. That if we just acted more normal, more respectable, they would leave us alone, and the world would be happy. But there was a time when we were respectable, when we hid in the shadows. When we got wives just for show, just to please the conservative narrative. When we only acted like ourselves in our own hidden bars, our own hidden spaces. Out of sight, out of mind. And, well, how were we treated? Was it better? No. It was much, much worse. This will not shut them up.

toomanyrichies 1y ago

> This will at least shut them up for good. No it won't. The modern GOP is fueled by grievance. It needs an "other" in order to exist. They'll have a new enemy to rail against by this time tomorrow.

munchler 1y ago
Yes, of course, but it won’t be public broadcasting anymore. That’s why this might be a win for public broadcasting in the long run.
- anigbrowl 1y ago
  This is naive. If conservatives continue to perceive outlets like PBS as a thorn in their political sides, they'll go after their broadcasting licenses or target them with ruinous lawsuits - both actions that have been discussed or taken by conservative politicians already.

bix6 1y ago

I guess we should just support the post office with donations while we’re at it. That’ll work well!

munchler 1y ago
I suspect the post office is still supported by a durable majority. If it isn’t, then it will probably lose government funding as well.
- saagarjha 1y ago
  A durable majority doesn't even support funding education, and it is losing federal funding as we speak. Do you think this is a good thing?
  - ptero 1y ago
    I don't think this is correct. The majority of people prefers states to have more influence on school curriculum and federal government to have less. Yes, there are downsides to that, but it generally means that hours on STEM will increase and hours on ideology will decrease. Removing federal influence in setting agenda while sending federal funding directly to states without federal oversight of programs would not be a bad thing. My 2c.
    - bix6 1y ago
      Banning books and forcing bibles in schools. Right.
      - ptero 1y ago
        No, teaching what the local parents believe is best for their own kids. While there are certainly a few of those who will want bibles, most in my experience put much higher value in the extra STEM unhindered by ideology. My kids high school recently cancelled advanced math classes because the racial composition of students there was not what the school hoped to see. No, thank you, I want parents to have a much bigger influence on what schools teach.
        Eisenstein 1y ago
        Which Federal policy was it that led to that class cancelation?
        ptero 1y ago
        Some equal access policy that it was worried about. Do you have kids? If so, what age(s)?
autoexec 1y ago
Same with public schools, public parks, public sidewalks, public libraries, even police and fire departments. We have to give billionaires trillions in tax cuts while watching most Americans backslide into poverty so obviously it'd be fiscally irresponsible for the government to fund public services for the peasant class

const_cast 1y ago

You can't shut conservatives up. When you give conservatives what they want, they don't become less extreme - they double down and become more extreme. What you're referring to is a kind of "respectability politics". Basically, if we're nice and do what conservatives say, then things get better and they ease off. We have literal hundreds of years of proof that this is not the case, and the opposite happens. Think about Donald Trump. When we legitimize him and continue to do so, has he gotten less extreme, or more? In 2016 versus now, is he less extreme, or more? Much, much more. But he got what he wanted, right? Yes. And then he wants more, because he feels emboldened. It's an ideology built on Greed. If you give conservatives an inch, they take a mile. If you ease up a bit on reconstruction, then suddenly you have Jim Crow. If you you give them a teensy little bit of morality legislation, then suddenly you have mass censorship proposals and the Ten Commandments in schools. As a gay man, I see this time and time again in my own community. I have been told we are too vulgar, too sexual, too gross, and this is why conservatives target us. That if we just acted more normal, more respectable, they would leave us alone, and the world would be happy. But there was a time when we were respectable, when we hid in the shadows. When we got wives just for show, just to please the conservative narrative. When we only acted like ourselves in our own hidden bars, our own hidden spaces. Out of sight, out of mind. And, well, how were we treated? Was it better? No. It was much, much worse. This will not shut them up.